, he earnestly
requested that Hormisdas would privately dismiss the minister of Sapor,
and conceal this dangerous temptation from the knowledge of the camp.

Chapter XXIV: The Retreat And Death Of Julian.--Part IV.

The honor, as well as interest, of Julian, forbade him to consume his
time under the impregnable walls of Ctesiphon and as often as he defied
the Barbarians, who defended the city, to meet him on the open plain,
they prudently replied, that if he desired to exercise his valor,
he might seek the army of the Great King. He felt the insult, and he
accepted the advice. Instead of confining his servile march to the banks
of the Euphrates and Tigris, he resolved to imitate the adventurous
spirit of Alexander, and boldly to advance into the inland provinces,
till he forced his rival to contend with him, perhaps in the plains of
Arbela, for the empire of Asia. The magnanimity of Julian was applauded
and betrayed, by the arts of a noble Persian, who, in the cause of
his country, had generously submitted to act a part full of danger, of
falsehood, and of shame. With a train of faithful followers, he deserted
to the Imperial camp; exposed, in a specious tale, the injuries which he
had sustained; exaggerated the cruelty of Sapor, the discontent of
the people, and the weakness of the monarchy; and confidently offered
himself as the hostage and guide of the Roman march. The most rational
grounds of suspicion were urged, without effect, by the wisdom and
experience of Hormisdas; and the credulous Julian, receiving the traitor
into his bosom, was persuaded to issue a hasty order, which, in the
opinion of mankind, appeared to arraign his prudence, and to endanger
his safety. He destroyed, in a single hour, the whole navy, which had
been transported above five hundred miles, at so great an expense of
toil, of treasure, and of blood. Twelve, or, at the most, twenty-two
small vessels were saved, to accompany, on carriages, the march of the
army, and to form occasional bridges for the passage of the rivers.
A supply of twenty days' provisions was reserved for the use of the
soldiers; and the rest of the magazines, with a fleet of eleven hundred
vessels, which rode at anchor in the Tigris, were abandoned to the
flames, by the absolute command of the emperor. The Christian bishops,
Gregory and Augustin, insult the madness of the Apostate, who executed,
with his own hands, the sentence of divine justice. Their authority, of
le